


Runway's First Kid's Party

by SarahShalomDavid



Category: The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
Genre: AO3 FB Challenge, AO3FBChallenge, Birthday, Birthday Presents, Challenge Response, Children, Established Relationship, F/F, Three - Freeform, children's birthday, children's birthday party, three-years-old
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-31
Updated: 2018-03-04
Packaged: 2019-03-12 00:07:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13535463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SarahShalomDavid/pseuds/SarahShalomDavid
Summary: Miranda's request that Andrea brings her daughter to Runway results in work stopping for the first ever kid's birthday party at Runway, all for three-year-old Sophie.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the response to the AO3 FB Challenge set for the three-year anniversary of the Archive of Our Own (AO3) Writers group. The challenge was to; 
> 
> Write a fic including any/all of the following words:  
> "Three"  
> "Years"  
> "Group"  
> "Birthday" and/or "Anniversary"  
> "Celebration"  
> No word limit is required.  
> Post the fic to AO3, using the tag "AO3 FB Challenge".

“Andrea”, Miranda’s voice called out from within her office in her usual soft manner.

The assistant had now been working at Runway for two years, despite a slight ‘hiccup’ in Paris everything had been going well for her at the magazine and she was even due to start working in the editing department in two weeks time. “Yes Miranda”, Andrea said with a smile as she stepped into the woman’s office and stood near her desk.

“I would like you to bring Sophie in to work tomorrow at 1 O’Clock”, the white-haired woman stated with a rare smile, it was a softer request than her usual demands.

Andrea frowned slightly, “Erm… are you sure?”, she asked with uncertainty.

“Of course I’m sure”, the Editor-in-Chief replied, “When have I ever said anything that I didn’t mean?”.

“Never”, she responded softly with a slight sigh.

“Precisely”, Miranda said with a slight smirk on her face, “So you will bring her to my office at one”.

“Can I at least ask why?”, Andrea asked her boss.

The older woman nodded, “You can”, she said as she observed the other woman, “But I won’t tell you”.

Andrea rolled her eyes, “Fine”, she said, resisting asking the question again, “I guess it has something to do with her birthday being tomorrow”.

Miranda said and did nothing, she just continued to observe the woman.

“She’s really excited to the sleepover with the twins tomorrow”, Andrea commented, “She already has her bag packed although she has two bags; one for her and one for her doll”.

“As is my Bobbseys”, Miranda replied with a bright smile, “Well, dolly will be needing clothing too Andrea”, the amusement shone in her eyes at the last part.

Andrea smiled brightly and nodded, “Of course, especially as you seem to have turned my little girl into a mini fashionista, which resulted in three outfit changes this morning”.

“One less than yesterday”, Miranda said with an amused smile. “Oh, can you get hold of Donatella and rearrange next Thursday’s lunch?”.

“Sure”, she said straight away, “So, does that mean you're coming?”.

“Of course”, Miranda replied, “Sophie invited me to her teddy bear’s picnic so it is of utmost importance that I attend”.

“I can’t believe you’re cancelling on Donatella Versace in order to go to a teddy bear’s picnic with a load of toddlers”, Andrea said with clear amusement.

“Well you best believe it because that is what shall happen”, Miranda replied with a smirk.

“Oh do let me tell her that’s the reason”, Andrea said with a grin.

Miranda rolled her eyes, “If you so wish”, she said softly, “Donatella will understand the importance”.

Andrea nodded, “Okay, I’ll go and do that now”, she said with a smile, “Coffee?”.

She nodded, “Please”, she replied, it was a response that not many got because if it had been anyone else the response would have probably been something along the lines of ‘acceptable’.

The woman turned to leave the room but turned back when she heard the slight clearing of a throat.

“I think you forgot something Andrea”, Miranda pointed out with a smile as she watched her from where she was sat.

Andrea frowned slightly in confusion before looking around the room to see if there was something that she was supposed to have collected, “I…”.

When Andrea began to speak, Miranda simply tapped a singular finger against her own lips three times with a smile.

The younger woman shook her head, “How could I forget that?”, she said softly as she moved closer to her boss.

“I have no idea Andrea”, Miranda said with a slight smirk, “Honestly, you’d forget your head if it wasn’t screwed on”, it was not true of course but she was only joking with her.

Andrea leaned in and pressed her lips to those of the Editor-in-Chief before the woman pulled her in closer to deepen the kiss. They had been dating ever since Paris, it had, of course, been declared to human resources but luckily neither of their contracts deemed it a fireable action.

“Oh and you’ll have to collect Sophie’s dress from the closet, the one for tomorrow”, Miranda said with her hands on Andrea’s hips.

“You got her a dress for tomorrow?”, Andrea questioned with a slight smirk, “Well I better make sure the little fashion princess is looking fabulous tomorrow then”.

“Don’t be silly Andrea”, Miranda said with a smile, “She always looks fabulous”.

When Andrea left the room, Miranda turned back to her desk and looked at the photos that were sat there. She had a double frame with both of her girls’ school photo in each side, a frame of them both together, another with the Cassidy, Caroline, and Sophie together which had been taken the previous Christmas, and a photo of the three of them with both herself and Andrea which had been taken in the Hamptons a few weeks previously when they were lounging on the beach.

Miranda and Andrea spent a lot of time together outside of work, and the three children all got on well so they too loved to spend time together. Nate had left for Boston whilst Andrea was in Paris, leaving behind his daughter after signing over custody of the little girl although that was not a surprise to Andy as she had raised the little girl on her own throughout the entire relationship as he had taken very little interest in the child. The Editor-in-Chief had met the little one on a few different occasions before Paris when Andrea would take the book to her house but she did not take on a full role in her life until after Paris. She had become rather fond of the little girl.

The following day, Andrea had gone on her lunch break to go and get three-year-old Sophie from nursery to take her to whatever celebration Miranda had planned for her at Runway.

Miranda, meanwhile, had arranged for one of the meeting rooms to be decorated in the way that she deemed appropriate for Sophie’s third birthday party.

_Miranda was sat in the living room with the little two-year-old in her lap, she was wearing a dress that the woman had chosen herself as she had volunteered to take the child so that Andrea could finish writing an article that was due to be published in Runway. The little girl had her hair down so that her dark curls flowed down around her face and her dark brown eyes were looking up at Miranda. “What would you like for your birthday?”, she asked the child._

_“A party”, the little one said after a moment’s thought._

_“Is that all?”, Miranda asked softly as she held the child close to her._

_“And a dress”, Sophie said with a huge smile, “I love dresses”._

_“I know you do”, she said simply as she hugged her tightly, “Are you excited to turn three?”._

_“Hm… kind of…”, she replied, “Cass said it means that I get cake and that I get to blow out three candles instead of two, she said she’d help me if I need help”. “Caro said that it means I get to do more things, so it must be good, right?”, she asked as she looked up at the older woman._

_Miranda simply nodded with a smile, “Are you ready to come with me to collect Caroline and Cassidy from the train station?”._

_Sophie suddenly looked extremely excited and jumped down from Miranda’s lap quickly to run and get her shoes on in the entrance hall._

_Miranda simply laughed at her enthusiasm and followed, “I suppose that’s a yes then”, she said to herself._

At just before one o’clock, Sophie was bouncing up and down in the elevator at Elias Clark with pure excitement, the little girl had already been given four birthday presents on the way through the lobby from staff that worked in the lobby so Andrea was carrying the four gift bags; three from receptionists and one from a security guard.

When the elevator stopped, “I can go and see Miranda now? Pleaaaaaaaaase”, the little one asked before dragging out the word ‘please’ whilst pulling the most angelic look she could possibly create.

Andrea nodded, knowing that it just meant that her daughter wanted to run straight to Miranda’s office, “Okay”, she said but it was useless because as soon as she had nodded her head, the little girl had gone.

Miranda was stood in her office when the little girl came shooting in and threw herself at the woman. The Editor-in-Chief smiled brightly and lifted the little one into her arms, ignoring her assistant and dismissing the woman with a wave of her hand as she paid her attention to the birthday girl in her arms, “Happy Birthday Sophie”, she said happily as she stood in front of the large windows that looked out onto the city.

“Thank you”, Sophie said with a smile as she embraced the woman, leaning into her quite happily.

Andrea put the gift bags down on her desk before going into her boss’ office, and yet people still think she’s a dragon, she thought to herself with amusement.

“Are you ready for your surprise?”, Miranda asked gently as she looked at the little girl in her arms.

Sophie nodded excitedly, “Yeah”, she exclaimed.

Carefully, she placed the girl on the floor so that she could walk and then took hold of her hand before walking out of her office, pausing only to press a loving kiss to her girlfriend’s lips before continuing on towards the meeting room with Andrea.

When they entered the room the majority of the Runway group were there with Emily, Nigel, Jocelyn, Serena, and so many others. Miranda had even ensured that there was a photographer for the little girl’s party. Each of the people from Runway who had children had brought them with them and both of Miranda’s were there too. It was, after all, the school holidays so all of the children were free to be there without missing out on important school work.

The room was decorated in a mix of Tiffany blue and silver balloons with a variety of banners whilst the tables were covered with white tablecloths and had a range of foods in the middle of it. Surrounding the food was a scattering of confetti in the shapes of silver snowflakes. The little girl loved Frozen and even more so when she heard someone calling Miranda the ‘Ice Queen’ because from then on she thought that Miranda was the real Elsa, the child, of course, thought that the name was awesome and even Miranda had decided that maybe it wasn’t as bad as she had originally thought it to be.

“Sophie!”, came the shouts from both of Miranda’s redheaded twins as they ran to her and embraced her. “Happy Birthday”, both of the girls said, one slightly after the other.

Cassidy picked up a bag from the side of the room, “Look, we got you a present”, she said as she handed over the bag to the little girl.

“We have your other presents at home so you can open those when you come to dinner tonight”, Caroline said with a bright smile.

The adults were all in conversation with each other and watching the children after everyone had yelled the initial ‘Happy Birthday’ but Sophie’s attention was solely on the twin girls in front of her. The two older girls completely doted on the three-year-old and had almost instantly adopted her in their own way.

“And sleep”, Sophie said with a huge smile.

Caroline nodded, “And sleep”, she agreed, “Mom has a surprise for when you sleep over tonight”.

“Another surprise?”, Sophie asked with wide eyes, “I think I’m going to be all surprised out by the end of the day, I have so many!”.

Both of the girls were giggling at what she had said but agreed.

“Well?”, Cassidy asked, “Are you going to open it?”.

She hadn’t opened the presents that she had been given in the lobby as her mother said for her to open those later when she got to Miranda’s house but she nodded before reaching out for the bag. She opened up the bag that was covered in a picture of Disney’s Elsa and she reached in to pull out the present before sitting down in Caroline’s lap who, along with her sister, had sat on the floor of the meeting room.

She unwrapped the box carefully, the paper of the gift was a very light powder blue with a slight shine to it, the wrapping paper revealed a remote control dragon and according to the box; it walked, flew, and made sounds of which you could also record your own roar. “Wow!”, Sophie gasped with excitement, “That’s the one from the tv”.

Cassidy nodded, “We know, that’s why we asked Mom if we could get it for you”, she said with smile, “We knew you’d like it”, the girls had spent some of their allowances on the gift themselves as they wanted to buy the little girl a few things with their own money and they had also bought two other gifts which were back at the house; one of the gifts was a scrapbook that they had bought and then made together, then the other was a necklace with the word ‘sister’ on it as they had, after all, adopted the little girl as their sister without prompting from anyone else. They decided that they wanted a little sister and considering the fact that Sophie was there that she would be their sister. Neither of the women said anything about it as all three children seemed rather happy with the idea, and in actual fact, so were they.

The party went very well, it was an unusual event for Runway as it was the first children’s party that had been held there but it would not be the last as Miranda had found that having her employee’s children playing together with her own (which she tended to include Sophie in) was quite enjoyable to watch as they all seemed to enjoy themselves and it gave a more relaxed atmosphere to the Runway offices. Some of the staff were coming in and out of the room but the ones with the children remained. In total there were approximately 25 children in the room making it quite a large group to celebrate the anniversary of the child’s birth.

Later that evening the family would go back to Miranda’s for dinner where the woman would cook the little girl’s favourite meal as Sophie loved Miranda’s cooking and she enjoyed helping her in the kitchen even more which made it a little more messy than normal but the woman didn’t mind as she was rather fond of her little assistant chef. Sophie loved her surprise that night because her surprise was her own room but also because she got to sleep inside a teepee with Caroline and Cassidy that Miranda had purchased for the sleepover.


	2. Chapter 2

Sophie bounced with excitement as she ran into the townhouse whilst dragging both Caroline and Cassidy in behind her. Neither of them seemed to mind as they were giggling at the little girl's excitement rather than appearing to be annoyed in any manner.

"Slow down", Miranda called out softly, "I don't want you to fall and hurt yourselves". One time when the little girl had run so quickly through the entrance hall, the only thing that had stopped the young child falling flat on her face was the fact that the other two children were both holding her hands and so, although she hurt her arms slightly from where she was prevented from falling and she hurt her ankle lightly from the way she fell.

Both of which were both forgotten when Miranda made the child's favourite meal which was a cottage pie with a side of vegetables done in what Sophie referred to as 'Miranda's special way'. It was a traditional dish that Miranda remembered from when she was younger and living in England but that she had continued to cook years after moving the United States. She rather enjoyed the meal and so did both of her twin girls, however, she soon realised after cooking it for the first time for both Andrea and Sophie that the curly-haired child loved it even more than they did. Whenever Sophie was given the choice of what she wanted to eat, Miranda always ended up making the dish for them all, even when the older children attempted to convince her to ask for a pizza delivery.

For Sophie, Miranda's cooking always came top, way above any meal that they ordered in or that they ate out. At a dinner party that they had all attended together, one of the other guests had asked Sophie whether or not she was enjoying her meal and the child had responded, rather honestly, that Miranda's cooking was much better. Miranda could not help but smile as she took another bite of her own dinner but the woman who had asked the question was rather surprised at the revelation. Although the woman was unsure as to whether or not she was surprised at the fact that she favoured home cooking over a gourmet restaurant or the fact that Miranda Priestly actually cooked herself rather than having a chef do it all the time for her as she definitely had the means to.

Miranda was carrying Sophie's new 'pet dragon' when she herself followed the three children into the house, which some had found rather amusing due to the fact that the woman carrying the toy dragon had previously been labelled as a dragon herself. Nor did it help that she accidentally set it off as she crossed the lobby of Elias-Clark where many turned their heads to see a slightly wide-eyed Editor-in-Chief looking down at a roaring dragon whilst the dark-haired birthday girl mimicked the toy by roaring herself as she bounced around the lobby.

Andrea, along with both Cassidy and Caroline, had been the only ones brave enough to actually laugh at the woman's reaction to the toy as well as Sophie's reaction. They did, however, all smile at the sight of the birthday girl being so happy. They all knew that since spending more time with both Sophie and Andrea that the Editor-in-Chief had mellowed quite a bit, not enough that she lost her reputation but enough that she wasn't firing someone every week and they even saw her smile. Although the smiles were, of course, not directed at any of them but only at Andrea or one of the children if they visited the office at any point in the day.

If Miranda was in a particularly foul mood for whatever reason then Andrea would facetime with her daughter whilst she was at daycare before handing the phone over to the older woman where she could see the child's happy face and be able to speak to her. Sophie never failed to cheer Miranda up with her happy nature and a huge smile, also it did help that no matter what Sophie was always very excited to see Miranda.

The necklace that both of the girls had given her was safely secured around the child's neck as it was not long after she had opened the gift that she had approached Miranda and asked her to put it on for her. Miranda had been rather happy to help the little one that she now considered to be hers along with both Cassidy and Caroline.

Andrea followed the others into the house and closed the door behind them after waving a goodbye to Roy.

Sophie had made her way rather quickly into the den where her sisters had both informed her that the remainder of her presents were waiting for her.

The two adults were smiling happily as they entered the den and were overjoyed to see the happiness on the faces of their children. Andrea took hold of Miranda's hand and tugged her gently back so that she would almost fall into her arms, "You are amazing", she whispered softly before kissing the other woman lovingly.

"I just did what any step-mother would do", Miranda said with a bright smile, the smile reserved only for her family, "She asked for a party and a dress so that is what she got".

"First of all, you are not her step-mother", Andrea replied with a shake of her head making the other woman's smile drop, "There is not step there, you are her mother too. You have been there for her more over the past couple of years than her father ever was, and you love her, and she definitely loves you". "Secondly, what would have happened if she had asked for a pony? or a real-life dragon rather than that toy?", Andrea questioned as she indicated to the toy that Miranda still found herself carrying in her arms.

Once Miranda had finished what she was saying about the title of 'step-mother', she found herself smiling even brighter than she had been before, "In that case, Andrea, I may be the luckiest woman in the world to be considered as that beautiful little Princess' mother too". "Well...", the white-haired woman paused for a moment, "I suppose that a pony would have to stay at a local livery yard and as for the dragon... well, I'm sure that bearded dragon would be a suitable alternative".

Andrea's jaw dropped, "You are not getting her a pony and you are definitely not buying her a dragon", she said with slightly widened eyes and a shake of her head.

The older woman simply smirked but said nothing in response to pressing a soft kiss to the other woman's cheek and moving further into the room where the three children were waiting eagerly for them.

The three girls were whispering among themselves, which usually meant trouble for someone, "Hurry up Mommy", Sophie said as she bounced slightly in Caroline's lap, "Hurry up Mamma".

Both women glanced at each other before looking over at the three grinning children before smiling themselves and doing exactly what the three-year-old had requested and hurried up in order to sit with them on the rug in the middle of the den.

Mommy and Mamma both kissed their children's heads as they sat down on the floor, then as soon as permission was granted, the birthday girl dove into her pile of gifts that were all wrapped in blue, white, or Disney Frozen themed gift wrapping.

First to be unwrapped was a chef's set which was personalised and contained everything that she could need from a bowl and spoon to a chef's hat and apron, all of which were in her favourite colour; cerulean. Her fondness for the colour came from the fact that she had found it hidden in her mother's closet and decided that it was soft as well as warm so she opted to keep hold of it. Andrea eventually gave in as she had only kept it to remember the speech that Miranda had given her over the colour as it was a turning point in her career at Runway.

"Wow!", Sophie gasped as she noticed her name sewn onto the apron, the thread was a cerulean colour whilst the section at the top where the lettering was sewn on was white so that the name stuck out clearly. "Thank you Mommy", she said as she almost threw herself into Miranda's arms.

The older woman could not help but smile happily as she held the child in her arms who had apparently now decided that she would sit on her lap instead.

Sophie then opened another gift which was a special edition of Runway which contained photos of their family together at different events and outings as well as articles that had been written in a child-friendly manner much like bedtime stories rather than the articles that would be seen in the real Runway. "I'm in Runway", Sophie squealed with excitement, "Look Mamma!".

Andrea took hold of the magazine as her daughter wanted her to and was looking at the different aspects of it, "Wow, Miranda", she said softly, "This must have taken ages to make", she knew how much effort that the other woman put into the actual Runway and the copy that she was holding in her hand looked to be at the same standard as that, although, truth be told, when it came to the Editor-in-Chief she never aimed for anything less than perfection.

The other presents included; clothing for her doll, a doll's bed, a doll's pram, three dresses, four tops, two pairs of trousers, a pair of shoes, and a safety watch. The watch not only told the time but also had the ability to be used as a phone in emergencies but only a limited number of numbers could be called or dialed from it along with the emergency services which meant that it was safe for the child and it provided a way that she could call them if there was an emergency at daycare, not that it was likely that there would be but Miranda was very protective of her family.

After Sophie had opened the multitude of gifts that she had been given, the family sat down to eat the dinner that both Miranda and Sophie had made the previous night in preparation for the special day. They had made it the previous evening because it would consequently mean that it only needed to be heated up and it would also mean that Sophie would not miss out on helping Miranda to cook it. The older woman had been very tempted to give Sophie her chef's set present the night before her birthday so that she could enjoy it that night but she remained patient as she knew that they would cook together again soon. Very soon if Sophie was to get her own way, which she most likely would and they would end up making pancakes the following day.

Once dinner was over and Frozen had been watched for what the two adults considered to be the billionth time, it was time for the children to go to bed, especially Sophie who was falling to sleep spread across both Caroline and Cassidy. It did not help the child to stay awake when Caroline was running her hand through her dark curls.

"Sophie?", Miranda said with a smile as she knelt down slightly beside the sofa, "I have another surprise for you upstairs, would you like to come and see it?".

Instantly, the little girl was wide awake rather than the almost asleep state that she had previously been in. Sophie climbed off of the two girls straight away and was soon standing beside Miranda.

The Editor-in-Chief smiled happily as she took Sophie's hand but within seconds the child had her hands up in a gesture that clearly meant that she wanted to be carried instead. That was something that the woman did straight away, she rather liked carrying the little one and having her in her arms in a way that she could hold her close and protect her.

The other three followed them up the stairs until they were all stopped outside of the guest room that was next directly opposite both Caroline and Cassidy's rooms.

Sophie instantly reached out her hand to touch the door where wooden lettering spelt her name, "That's my name", she said happily.

"It sure is", the woman replied, "That would be because this room... is yours".

The squeal that came from the child made Miranda second-guess the idea of holding the little one where she would be so close to her ears. That second-guessing ended rather quickly, however, when little arms were thrown around her neck and multiple kisses were pressed energetically to her face making her laugh. "Would you like to go in your new bedroom?", she asked, "Or would you rather continue this attack?".

"Room then I'll continue the attack", Sophie replied straight away with a huge grin making the others laugh.

Miranda put her daughter down on the floor before she opened the door, it was so that she would see it from a child-size perspective rather than from adult height.

Sophie walked around the room in awe of everything. It was all a mix of cerulean and white. The bed had a princess canopy whilst the duvet cover was a Frozen design. A few different pillows decorated the bed in the shapes of snowflakes and on the wall was a huge canvas that showed a photo of all of them together that had been taken when they had gone to Disneyland Florida for two weeks during the summer break. In the corner of the room was a white teepee, which appeared to be able to fit all three girls inside.

"This is where we're sleeping tonight", Caroline revealed as she sat inside the teepee.

"See? We even have our pillows and blankets in here already", Cassidy added, "That way we can all have a sleepover in the tent".

The birthday girl was very excited, not only to see the new room but also to be able to have a sleep-over with her two sisters.

"Thank you!", she exclaimed with pure excitement as she ran to her Mamma in order to hug her legs.

Miranda knelt down and took the child into her arms in a loving embrace, "How about you get changed into our new pyjamas and get ready for bed so that you can have your sleep-over?".

"New pyjamas?", Sophie asked with a gasp, "Wow... so many surprises. I didn't know you could get so many surprises in one day".

The woman laughed and kissed the girl's head softly, "Your new pyjamas are folded up inside the middle snowflake, it's a special pillow that keeps your pyjamas safe for you".

"Wow", she said softly, "Just like Cass and Ro".

Once all three of the children were ready for bed and safely tucked in inside the teepee, both women kissed the children's heads and wished them a good night.

"Mamma?", she said to Miranda just as she was withdrawing from the tent.

"Yes, Sophie", Miranda said as she leaned back into the teepee.

"You asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I said a party and a dress", Sophie said softly, "And you got them for me". There was a slight pause, "I think I know what I would like for my fourth birthday".

"You've decided already?", Miranda questioned, "You might change your mind, after all, it is a year away".

"I won't change my mind, I _promise_ ", she said with a serious expression.

Miranda nodded, "Okay", she said with a smile, "What have you decided that you would like for your fourth birthday?"

"A baby sister", Sophie replied seriously.

The Editor-in-Chief's jaw dropped, Andrea, who was standing outside of the teepee was rolling her eyes, and the twins were both laughing as they hid their face behind Sophie.


End file.
